We were lucky to catch up with Elijah Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elijah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I got some practice by drawing all the time in 7th and 8th grade with my friends. We would make like, a new character every other week and draw comics about them interacting, fighting, or just exchanging inside jokes we had. My main subjects during this age were anthropomorphic animals, pulling a lot from the furry subculture. They were always just more appealing to draw than people (and also a little easier).

I also gained inspiration from the cartoons I’d watch every week with my siblings. Gravity Falls and The Amazing World of Gumball, to name a few. When I was 12 I would google Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar’s storyboards and thumbnails all day on the school computers. I was also inspired by video games I played, a lot of Nintendo and Sonic The Hedgehog. When started using social media at 11, I was drawn to a lot of Tumblr-adjacent art communities, Wattpad, and Instagram.

Again, this was all traditional drawing. I wanted to learn how to draw digitally so badly. My dad around this time kept pushing me to learn Adobe Photoshop and I thought it was VERY boring, but I did pick up a few things now and then. My dad got me a drawing tablet later for Christmas, so I had more of a means to practice digital art. Even with Photoshop, I’m super grateful that my Dad was pushing me to learn new things. Both of my parents were very supportive of my endeavors, which I am extremely fortunate for.

A few years later when I was in high school, I participated in the Pre-College Program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), where I first learned how to animate with Adobe Photoshop. Then finally, during my last few months as a high school senior, I decided I wanted to create my very own short film. I asked my art and film teachers to help me with feedback, direction, etc. My film is called “Is There Anything Beyond The Bunker”, which is about a scientist who works in an underground lab and discovers her alien specimen has escaped. It’s a very unorganized, raw expression of my feelings about graduating high school and the COVID-19 pandemic. This gave me a ton of experience with concept design, storyboarding, 2D animation (I taught myself Adobe Animate), and editing. Some more experience with animation short films came along when I helped with two other student films, specifically as a colorist.

I think if anything, I wish I tackled more drawing foundations to improve faster. It always felt super intimidating, which led me to not pursue it at all; I expected myself to do it perfectly on the first try. Most artists can relate to this, and that’s just the nature of artmaking, I think. But we don’t give ourselves enough grace when trying to learn and practice. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s room for fault in our learning, especially when trying to monetize those skills. I wish I had given myself more grace. Now, being a full-time college student, I get in my way less because I’m on the clock to get things done for class. This translates well into my own time. I feel like I’m more confident now with executing my ideas.

The biggest obstacle is for sure myself. I constantly have new ideas swirling in my brain, but a lot of times I never felt confident that I could do it, or if I did I didn’t like the result, discouraging any further learning. This goes in tandem with what I could’ve done to speed up my improvement; if I didn’t get in my way so much, I think I would’ve developed a lot of skills faster.

Elijah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Elijah Taylor, though I go by Peggy. I’m a junior undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin Stout, working towards a BFA in Animation and Digital Media. I do a lot of traditional and digital drawing, but I love to create works mixed with graphic design, animation, and 3D graphics. I’ve dabbled with typography, T-shirt designs, short films, paintings, you name it. I enjoy exploring different mediums, and seeing what speaks to me and what doesn’t. In the last year, I’ve been learning about 3D modeling, which I’ve fallen in love with, and see it as a potential field to enter. My goal after finishing school is to work in the animation industry, whether it be TV production, film, advertising, or music videos.

In the past, I’ve mostly done commission or freelance work. Nothing crazy, just projects among friends and people in my circles. I’m currently working on a long-term animation project for a client’s YouTube video, consisting of animated bumpers, original concept and character creation, and other visual art and assets.

While I focus on animation and design, I take heavy inspiration from fine art and graphic design as well. Historical and modern art museum visits with my dad were a significant part of my life in being informed by aesthetics and design choices, especially in terms of communicating underrepresented voices in society. I’ve collaborated with one of my friends to make posters for the Minneapolis music scene. This past summer, I attended Oxbow, an art school and residency in Michigan, for two weeks. I took a two-week class on color theory and completed a series of oil paintings titled “Grebo 1-6.” It’s currently being installed at my school’s local art gallery.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Generally speaking, I want to help uplift the animation scene in my city. My family has never been able to afford trips to other parts of the country, and certainly not abroad. The Twin Cities is kind of all I’ve known and I think there’s a large community and industry of animators and designers that goes unnoticed. For a long time, I figured that my prospects of finding the job I want will be either on the West Coast or the East Coast. That’s changed now since I’ve gotten older and looked into more opportunities in Minneapolis and St. Paul. But there isn’t a whole lot of entertainment work here. I’ve always felt very restricted because of this, and I’m betting many other animators here feel similarly. One of my goals is to contribute or make something that makes people go, “Oh hey, Minneapolis has a good animation scene!” That’s not to say it’s nonexistent, but it’s certainly hard to find sometimes.

I recently have been connecting with Nice Moves, which is exactly what I mean. They’re an organization made up of animators from the Twin Cities area, and they help artists network, connect, and get jobs. I only started hearing about them when I entered college, and I was a mentee through their mentorship program to learn the editing and animation software After Effects. It gives me a lot of hope that the animation community here will keep growing.

By being influenced by fine arts, I’ve wrestled with my artistic voice. I very much intend to continue to create things that reflect my desire for social change.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Our institutions need to be better at funding the arts, simply put. I always hear about schools cutting their arts programs, and how some of my friends have taken classes I’ve never even considered could be a thing. The big thing right now is how many animation studios are merging, going out of business, or teams getting cut and let go. So many artists need jobs, and there aren’t any. Of course, on an individual level, these problems are not possible to tackle.

I think the easiest, most accessible thing people can do for artists is just listen. I sometimes forget how little people know about the process artists undertake for their work. It’s not out of purposeful ignorance. It probably has to do with the lack of art programs and education in communities. Either way, if there’s, say, a musician you like, try looking for interviews or videos discussing their process for writing their lyrics, or playing their instrument. Find a painter, cartoonist, sculptor, or anything on creative arts! Artists love to talk, at least I do. Find out what they think about when they create, why they do it, and what they are trying to communicate. I think that is the first step because then, you have a greater understanding and appreciation for it. With a greater understanding and appreciation, you then start to understand our grievances with how our professions are frequently treated. I think then we can be better equipped to make significant improvements to artists’ lives.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wispyyeah/?hl=en
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-taylor-8a40b4260
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCndGTAYe0PrJZa6_KguU1EQ
• Other: Short film “Is There Anything Beyond The Bunker”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wXzQD1-nA0

Image Credits
Typeface for “Infinity” created by Essence Enwere